You count free ads, you don't count them

Following the publication of the article "The battle for commuters" in WW 25/01, questions have arisen that need to be clarified: In Zurich, Metropol grants free advertisements to the SBB and 20 Minuten various transport companies, as the two newspapers have concluded box contracts with these public transport partners. The question therefore arises as to whether and, if so, how these advertisements are reflected in the VSW statistics and the Media Focus data.According to Carmela Wittmer, VSW statistics project manager at Wemf, commuter newspapers are not allowed to count the advertisements of their public transport partners. Nor should they, according to Metropol publishing director Manuel Loureiro and Rolf Bollmann, managing director of 20 Minuten. Accordingly, the WW graphics are correct according to VSW statistics.
In the data from Media Focus (MF), however, it should be clarified that own and free advertisements are counted, but not PR texts. According to Stephan Wyss, Deputy Managing Director of MF, 20 Minuten counted a total of 130 advertisements from the Zurich public transport company between July 2000 and April 2001, resulting in a gross revenue of CHF 1.184 million. Added to this are the advertisements of other public transport partners. In the same period, MF only counted one SBB advertisement for Metropol; other SBB pages were counted as PR texts and were not surveyed. (mk)